MImpossible Volume III: The Return
by MIMitationBalance
Summary: High School? I've got to be kidding right? So overdone, but bear with me. Man in Moon sends our favorite warriors to Mim's hometown high school and things get dicey when rumors spread that a kidnapping's afoot. Will the Guardians be able to handle the situation without their true forms, or will they succumb to the horror that is high school?
1. Some Kind of Sick Joke

"You've got to be kidding me." Mim's jaw was not on the floor, but it was pretty darn close. After regaining her footing, she hummed with neon green distress and then punched a hole in the wall. She apologized profusely afterward and then proceeded to glare at the freshly made hole in the wall.

"Not the reaction I was expecting…"Bunny commented as Jack looked rather unsure what to do. He eventually just reached for her shoulder, not at all surprised to feel it tense and practically humming with energy.

"C'mon snowflake, it can't be that bad. If anything, you're the best person to help us do it."

He turned her around to see two straight tracks of tears run down her cheeks. He frosted them and brushed them from her face. It didn't seem to comfort her.

Sandy mimed a series of symbols rapidly, blurred by tears, she couldn't quite understand, but Tooth translated.

"It's only high school, what could be so bad about that?" she said, trying to sound optimistic. Mim shook out her shoulders and wiped her eyes.

"You're right." she now just sounded frustrated as heck. "You're right, it's nothing worth crying about-"

"See! No problem!" North interjected loudly, only for Tooth to lightly whack him on his arm.

"-but it's still something worth worrying about." Mim finished.

North's gaiety visibly drained from his face. He crossed his arms and put a hand on his chin, the way he always does when he's thinking hard.

"Alright mate, what do we do?" Bunny disturbed North's thinking as the silence crawled on for a few minutes.

"What we need is all the information." Jack answered, Mim having resettled on the couch, head on her hand in obvious displeasure. But she nodded in agreement to Jack's statement, as did the other Guardians. North broke his silence and explained further. They had one week to prepare. It was currently late August and school started the first day of September, they would be given a full cover story, but that was it.

"Well THAT certainly gives us a great deal to work with." Mim let the comment slip out, dripping in sarcasm.

"See," Jack hugged her lightly, "You're already acting more like a high schooler already!"

She glared up but he didn't take it seriously, after all he thought she had every reason to be upset. Some people would love to run back into the past. Both he and Mim were not those people.

"Well, we have one week and we are wasting time but moping!" Tooth began to buzz with a small smile on her face, which helped, and Mim brightened...well at least a little.

"And Jack was right," Bunny pat Mim on her head, a joke the two shared, and Jack made a ridiculously aghast face.

"The Easter Bunny admits that I, Jack Frost, was right! I never thought I'd live to see the day…" he harped even adding, "and I'm pushing three hundred," to the end. Bunny shoved him in the shoulder.

"Oh rack off, but you were. No one is better to help us figure out what to do but you."

Mim flipped her hair back and rested her chin on her hands with a sigh. She cracked her neck to the right and left and pushed up, hands on her knees.

"I guess."

That got North rolling again. He went off listing things that they would need, things that the yetis could make within the time span allotted. Phil produced 6 suitcases, each one black. They were large-ish, but other thoughts were running through Mim's head.

"Uh, guys, who's going to cover all of our jobs?" Jack asked, leaning on his staff, the thought had just come to him, excited as he was with everyone running about.

The pandemonium froze for a moment as everyone thought it over.

"The Warren can run itself for a while, and I might be able to convince Baume to watch the place for me when Easter comes around." Bunny said, but not with any amount of certainty. Relinquishing his holiday and his home to someone was pretty high in his list of DO NOT DO, right behind letting Jack touch things.

"I have an army of fairies, and I suppose they can check in every now and again." Tooth wrung her hands nervously and Baby Tooth, who had dropped by not moments earlier opened her mouth in shock. Tooth filled her in but her mouth only opened wider as she looked at each of the Guardians in turn.

 _Them? Surviving as normal people? Man in Moon must be losing it?_ she thought. She rushed off to tell all her sisters.

"I have yetis and Phil has always wanted to pilot the sleigh." North admitted, which made the yeti's cheeks twinge pink as all the Guardians smiled at this announcement. He made a speedy exit. How embarrassing, haha.

Sandy signed that IOSS would be fine and it's not like people would stop dreaming. His helper would keep the island and everything afloat. It might just be a slightly less inspiring year.

"Mother Nature has already agreed to cover for you."North told Jack how seemed irritated.

"Did anybody think to ask me about this. She's great and all, but snow and slush are two very different things!" Jack said.

"It's better than Zvezda!" Bunny shut him up quick.

"And who will cover for me?!" Mim asked. "I'm only 1 year old, I don't really know anybody." she used the immortal age number system.

"That is true…" North pondered for a moment. "Ach Dmitri!" he bellowed into the halls. From somewhere in the Pole, the yeti bumbled into the Globe Room and waved at Mim, who waved back half-heartedly.

"Send letter to Melod asking if he would mind covering for Mimic for a year." North ordered. Dmitri shuffled off and Mim seemed to be thinking it through.

"The Muse? Why him?" she inquired.

"Music can somewhat copy your emotipulation. It's not perfect but will do until you back under the job." North grinned.

"It's ON the job, North." Jack corrected politely and North corrected himself quickly.

"Okay…" Mim conceded, looking about at her fellow Guardians. "What's next?"

* * *

 **A/N: Hello, ladies and gentlemen I am back! I kinda dropped the ball for a few, he he, months but now I am slowly getting back on my feet! Hope you guys like this, I'm doing a rewrite on Volume III just for quality improvement. Anywho, here are a few notes:**

 ***Melod is the Muse of Music.** ***Baume is the Spirit of Trees and Forests, an acquaintance of Bunnymund's.  
**

 **And I think that's it. R &R?**

 **-MIMIC**


	2. New Body New Rules

Apparently, next came wardrobe. North hoped to work from the outside in. Get the look, then get the mindset. Mim objected under the basis that teenage attitude was more important to blending in than clothing. But North persisted and threw open the wardrobes that yetis had made for them. Mim and Jack has the biggest and North figured out pretty soon that the clothes the yeti's had made for him, Sandy, and Bunny might not work.

Tooth and Mim agreed to share since they were around the same size. Jack agreed to share with the other guys, but had no clue what size to give them, especially since he had clue what they would look like as teenagers.

"Face it North, until we biologically are teenagers, then this clothing thing might not work out." Bunny commented, shuddering at the idea of being a human...instead of anthropomorphic rabbit.

"You are right, so I guess we will have to become teenagers now." North said soundly, blatantly ignoring the shock on the faces of everyone else.

"Care to share, ya know, how that is going to happen!" Jack blurted out. North seemed to realize the misunderstanding and produced a bottle and six shot glass from his voluminous coat.

Sandy frowned and signed that this was no time for a toast but North waved a hand dismissively.

"Is no toast my friend, is potion that Man in Moon delivered. It will remove our 'special properties' and turn us into teenagers." he held the clear bottle up, with a baby blue milk-like substance swirling inside,

"That's a large bottle, North do we have to drink it all?" Tooth flew closer to examine, her nose almost touching the glass.

"No, we must conserve it as best we can," North said, suddenly solemn. "Each dose only lasts 2 weeks, and Man in Moon has made it clear that we can NOT be discovered as 'special' in any way."

"That might've been important to tell us." Mim calmly stated, but the obviousness of the understatement got the desired reaction.

"I thought it was clear." North shrugged, with everyone rolling their eyes at the _supposedly_ super intelligent Nicolas St. North.

"I may not be a potions master but why not OD in it? What will happen?" Mim asked out of curiosity.

"Is simple, will turn you into infant if one drinks too much." North said it like it was no big deal, and this time the other Guardians chose to ignore it.

North poured small mouthfuls into each shot glass and handed them off to each Guardian. They held the glasses tentatively, looking at the potion of youth like it held a draught of death. They all stood in a circle facing each other, trading terrified glances.

Sandy gulped his back first and with him followed the rest, each making odd faces at the taste, which could be described as being like water mixed with goat's' milk, not a delicious combo in any sense.

For a few terrifying moments, nothing seemed to be happening until Sandy jumped in surprise as he grew taller. Everyone gawked at he grew and thinned until he was he a broadly built boy with strong shoulders and sandy blonde hair which fell in fluffy fringe over his eyes. His eyes were uniquely Sandman in an almost sparkly hazel but he looked nothing like himself. He still had his golden robe, but it now barely covered his waist and he quickly grabbed a robe from a nearby rack, even though it was for a girl and made of red silk.

Tooth gasped as her feathers began falling off at an alarming rate. Her arms were bare by the time Mim had the sense to snatch a simple dress and throw it at Tooth, who pulled it over her head quickly, only to scream as her beautiful wings dissolved from her back and disintegrated on the floor. Tooth ruffled herself and the rest of her feather fell to the floor in a small cascade. She felt her hair and discovered it to be shoulder length and black, but in soft layers. She was still short and petite in frame and her skin had darkened a tad to show off her Indian coloring and her eyes were a deep chocolate brown as she gaped at herself in a mirror on the opposite wall.

"Two down, four to go…" Jack said in an anxious tone.

Bunny had seen enough and struggled to pull on a long skirt as his transformation began. His began to scratch at his ears only to discover they were gone and his facial structure was now distinctly human. He had a strong nose and deeply tanned skin. His hair was short cut close in a shade of brown that was close to his skin tone. His eyes were green and bright, with thick eyebrows. He was tall but still strongly built, lean but with thick muscle clearly around his arms and legs and, well, everywhere. He was still wearing the skirt by the way.

Bunny seemed greatly distressed as his entire species had changed he was sort of freaking out.

"You look good, Cottontail." Jack said, and Bunny glared back only to have his new eyebrows raise in surprise.

"Speak for yourself, mate."

Jack whirled to face a mirror. His transformation had gone unnoticed in the chaos. Mostly because nothing had changed about his bone structure, height or any of those things. The rest, on the other hand, was much MUCH different. His ran a pale hand through his platinum blonde hair. Not as pale as before, but still very pale. His eyes were ice blue, with his consistently dark eyebrows.

"Never pictured myself as a blonde…" he trailed off, fiddling with the strands.

"I like it," Mim said, ruffling it up. Jack grinned. Tooth sighed, at least the teeth were still perfect.

"As for you," Jack started, and Mim looked at the mirror herself.

Like Jack, most of her changes were color changes. Her hair was longer, going down between her shoulder blades a few centimeters further, still much longer than her hair had been way back when. Her skin tanned a few shades darker, and she stared mesmerized as all of this occurred. The new hair was a deep chestnut brown with highlights and lowlights ranging from almost blonde to chocolate. Her eyes were the biggest kicker, as the rainbow faded into a steelish gray. She blinked at them, put off after so many months of watching their changing colors. She gulped, sure this was different, but different enough to make her unrecognizable? She didn't think so.

North was last, with his great coat now hanging off of him like a circus tent. He was still a towering giant, but now he was so long and lanky that everything was practically falling off of him. His blue eyes were the same, but his face had no wrinkles and revealed chiseled cheekbones and sturdy chin. His hair was mocha brown and thick, longish and standing out in all different angles. I guess Santa Claus did have an awkward stage.

So there they stood, Bunny as a human in skirt, Tooth, wingless, on the floor for once in dress, Mim in her uniform with normal coloring, Jack fiddling with his blonde hair, Sandy looking like a stranger peering at everyone and North struggling to keep his coat on.

A yeti walked in to put in some new clothes and all the Guardians look right at him. The poor yeti froze, widened his eyes and ran out yelling something unintelligible.

* * *

 **A/N: To all ye clothing lovers, worry not, the outfits come soon. I have had no luck drawing the Guardians as human, but if anyone wants to tackle these descriptions, I'd love to see them and maybe make it the new cove art from the story (credited of course). What do ya think?**

 **-MIMIC**


	3. Wardrobe Malfunction

"Why is it that every time a yeti walks in on our shenanigans...they leave screaming?" Bunny complained, sinking onto the floor, legs sprawling. Mim kicked his ankles together knowingly as she witnessed the GREAT AND POWERFUL GUARDIANS bumbling around.

Tooth kicked the small table in the center if the room for the third time in 10 minutes. North didn't seem to know where his body began and ended and North being North was wildly gesturing to get everyone's attention. Sandy almost forgot that he was now tall enough to need to duck under the swinging arms.

"Everyone! Everyone!"North was startled at the change of his voice. It was higher, but not by much, still being the lowest of the group.

"Uh, North." Jack said lightly. North stopped shouting, realizing that he'd had their attention for a quite a few seconds now.

"Ah, yes. _Prosti_. We must not waste time. We need a plan." he announced, stroking the significantly smaller beard at his chin. More stubble if anything.

"And we are working under the assumption that you have one." Tooth responded. The group nodded and looked at North expectantly.

"And yes, I do." The Russian smiled broadly, endearing on such a young face. Mim rolled her eyes. They certainly appeared different, but never take something at face value. These were the same old Guardians as always. He pulled a piece of paper from his coat. He had to search a few moments among all the folds of fabric to find the specific pocket.

 _Plan of Action for Teenage Preparation._

 _Get clothing (X)_

 _Transform (done)_

 _Get clothing and Pack up supplies_

 _Move into new house_

 _Arrange New Identities_

"That's it!" Bunny snatched the paper and ran his eyes across the lines several times. North's face fell somewhat and he nodded.

"See, Plan is very flexible because we know not what is coming." North rubbed the back of his head.

"Either way, it's what we got." Jack grabbed the plan from Bunny and stuffed it back in North's hands. "We're already up to number three. Let's please get dressed!"

Bunny prepared the drop the skirt and everyone immediately protested! Mim slapped a hand over Tooth's eyes and Jack slapped a hand over Mim's.

"Not here!" Everyone all but shouted! Bunny halted and blushed uncomfortably. Had them drag the six black from earlier suitcases into the intersection between her massive closet and Jacks. They decided to do the guy's first so that Mim could advise them on what to bring. Jack knew that without her, they might've ended up dressing like circus members rather that adolescents.

Most of Jack's clothes had been designed to fit him, but some stuff had been made before the yetis had gotten clear measurements on him, creating a range of items smaller and larger than Jack. Mim sent Jack off quickly as he was the least of her worries. Some jeans, some sweatpants, a pair of khakis and some t-shirts, tank tops and long sleeves.

"Can I bring my hoodie?" he confirmed curiously. Mim smiled gently.

"Of course, you may need a few, and a coat and some jackets. And lots of socks." she added finally.

"Coat?!" Jack dropped the pants he was holding. Mim picked them up and refolded them. Shoving them into his stomach, in the most lovingway possible, she reminded him that he could feel cold now. Jack was not at all happy to hear that.

"Well, at least it snows a lot where you live...at least when I do it." Jack refused to accept the unhappy truth, but nonetheless trudged off in search for a coat.

Mim jumped on his back and he gasped in surprise.

"Don't forget the shoes. Sneakers and Snowboots."

He flipped her over his head and she rolled to her feet. He put on his famous pout and shook his head. "No sneakers, snow boots and TOMS." crossing his arms and puffing up his chest in a mockery of dominance.

"Are those still the only shoes you wear?" Tooth ran by, carrying some shirts to help Sandy. A sleeve came undone and she tripped, but Mim and Jack each caught a hand before she face planted on the floor. She got to her feet sheepishly, excited as a hummingbird.

"Sorry, feet really aren't my favorite method of travel…" she gathered the clothing again and WALKED back to the other boys.

Mim kissed Jack and socked him playfully across the jaw before trotting after Tooth.

She reviewed the choices of the other guys, which surprisingly weren't that bad. They had taken her advice seriously. And she supposed she really shouldn't be surprised. These were the Guardians. If anyone was more than ready to take on a mission of any kind, it was them. Compared to forces of mythical evil, what was highschool, really? But the nerves in her stomach refused to settle. No matter what, this wasn't going to be easy.

Sandy had assembled a whole lot of yellow. And some brown. He had a lot of khaki and cargo pants and shorts, which Mim approved. He had lots of sweaters in various pastel shades. She discarded the tie though. Preppie worked, but they weren't that fancy. Sandy also had sets of button downs and tees. Mim gave him the thumbs up and Sandy smiled. Gosh, it was weird when he barely looked like himself.

North was next. Dark wash jeans, athletic shirts with button downs and flannels to layer over them. He also had a few zip front hoodies. Work boots and gray sneakers rounded it out. Mim thought a moment and dashed into a neighboring room in the wardrobe. She returned a few minutes later with a pair of glasses. She perched them onto North's nose.

"They do nothing." North squinted.

"I know, but out of six of us, it makes sense that someone wears glasses. And I'll be honest, they make you look adorkable." Mim said giggling behind her hand. Tooth joined in too. North's bushy eyes brows vanished into his mop of hair.

"Adorkable?" he repeated confused.

Bunny was last save for Jack who was still moving his stuff in for inspection. His was trickiest as she had him return the flip flops.

"They certainly won't work year round." she said and handed him a pair of Track Sneakers in exchange. Bunny shied at the concept of wearing shoes more than Jack, but pulled them on for a test and wiggled his toes. they seemed alright, but barefoot was still better in his opinion.

She also made him grab some long pants. He had cargo shorts but she pulled down some sweatpants too. He had more tank tops than the other guys but he had button downs and an army green jacket to throw over it.

Jack stumbled in with the last of his things. He had also brought a parka for each of the guys. They were all gray though. Mostly from excess stock from previous Christmases. The boys made to pack the parkas and the girls decided to meet them in the Globe Room later.

* * *

 **A/N: So we have the boys. The girls will come next as we follow North's "foolproof" plan. We haven't gotten to the good stuff yet.**

 **Shoutout to Ayumu! Thanks for all the support and I can't wait to see the sketch!**

 **-MIMIC**


	4. Gal's Got Nice Shoes

The doors to Mim's wardrobe opened with only the tiniest of creaks. She let out a breath and walked in with Toothiana to her right, a half step behind. When they reached the central area with the mirrors, changing curtains and a small table, Mim plopped herself down on a cushioned chair.

"Still stressed, huh?" Tooth asked, a hand on her shoulder. It was odd, mostly because this gesture normally occurred with Tooth hovering above Mim, but now she was on the ground, and naturally shorter that Mim. Even shorter than Sandy now.

"How could you tell?" Mim inquired, laughing slightly. She put her hands behind her head and craned her neck back, enjoying the few small cracks and snaps as she stretched it to either side. Rolling out her shoulders, she stood back up with Tooth looking at her with a gentle smile.

"Well, down to business I guess. Skirts or pants?" she turned her head and smiled back at Tooth.

"What" Tooth seemed to have missed the question.

"Which do you prefer, skirts or pants?" she repeated as the two laughed at each other in the confusion.

"Oh, sorry! Dresses and skirts mostly, but I suppose pants would be more functional." Tooth considered, arms held to her stomach in thought.

"That was always my line of thinking." Mim leafed through the endless racks of fabrics and clothing. "But we can always pack you a mix of things, right?"

"Right." she nodded enthusiastically. "But nothing really baggy, okay?"

"You got it!" Mim grabbed her hand and the two sprinted in the depths of the mother of all walk in closets.

Dresses were pulled from hangers and piled into their arms until they could barely see over the stacks. Tooth had a fondness of bright colors and the clothing they picked definitely reflected that. Mim even found some nice shirts with patterns on them of flowers and circles. Leggings and skinny jeans also made their way back into the central room. Mim had also remembered to grab Tooth sports bras from the drawers in one of the many many many wings.

"Trust me, you'll need them." she said, to which Tooth solemnly nodded as she organized everything by material, color, and category. Once she was finished, she probably could've packed all that clothing into a handbag. It left plenty of room for her shoes. Tooth was quick to grab sneakers and snowboots but her fingers lingered over a pair of black velour flats with a small pattern made of brass studs on the toe.

She went to leave without them but Mim picked them up off the shelf. She held them up to Tooth with an understanding grin.

"C'mon, you're only gonna get to wear shoes for a year, treat yourself." she suggested.

"I couldn't. Bunny and the boys didn't get nice shoes, so why should I?" Tooth protested. It was sweet and well intended and Mim would normally agree, but she had a comeback.

"As if I didn't see Bunny slip his flip flops in. Jack had his mind set on his Toms, Sandy snuck in slippers and North got a pair of boat shoes just out of curiosity." Mim held them closer and closer to Tooth, "You aren't doing anything they haven't already done."

Tooth made up her mind and snatched them, giving Mim an especially grateful look.

"And...nothing is stopping you from wearing shoes normally." she added.

"But they might fall off when I fly...and they're not great in combat." justified Tooth, who was zipping the massive suitcase shut.

"Speaking of… what are we walking into when we leave here?" Mim knelt down next to the older, more experienced Guardian. Tooth leaned back on her hands and turned it over in her head.

"You're more qualified to tell me. You're the one who's flown this circuit before." Tooth said.

" _Run_ this circuit, people can't fly." Mimic fixed, but continued with, "but that's not what I meant. Instinctively we all packed for functionality maybe even for combat, but are we expecting to be facing anything violent?"

That changed Toothiana's view on it and she rethought it. She supposed not, after all, what was out to hurt them? The biggest threat was likely in abandoning their regular posts, but Man in Moon wouldn't let anything too drastic happen would he? Suddenly she wasn't particularly sure about it anymore.

"It can't hurt to be prepared." she decided, and Mim agreed.

"I'm sure nothing bad will happen. This is just to improve our knowledge of teens right?" Mim concluded.

"Yeah, that's right." Tooth soundly stated. A silence fell.

"Now don't forget to pack your own clothes!" Tooth reminded. Mim hmphed something in agreement and returned back to the great wardrobe. In 5 short trips she managed to haul in all of her clothing that she knew she'd need. A pair of black leggings, a pair of gray sweatpants, some denim shorts in various washes and some skinny jeans in various washes. A plethora of plain tank tops in a rainbow of solid colors rained into the suitcase. Form fitting sweaters and a red hoodie fell on top. A black scarf was the final thing.

Tooth watched as she chucked in a pair of black lace up combat boots and a her own pair of black Toms.

"What's your treat shoe?" she asked, now very intrigues at her choice.

"These!" Mim pulled a pair of gladiator sandals which rose to above her ankles by a few inches. They were close toed but the rest a striped set of straps. Tooth marvelled at Mim's excited face. She may be a hard core warrior and indifferent to fashion follies, but Mimic did indeed appreciate the art excellent dressing.

"Good choice!" Tooth commended, a fan of the shoes herself now that she'd had a chance to see them up close.

"All we need is one last thing, just for kicks." Mim grabbed two small black bags from a nearby shelf and tossed one to Tooth. When it was opened Tooth gawked at the brushes and powders and pencils.

"Makeup?" she asked.

"Just for fun." Mim laughed at Tooth's confusion, jokingly defensive, "Teens do it, I did it once or twice and we might as well have fun with some big kid face paint."

Tooth packed it in with no further questions and just smiled. Why not live it a little?

The two of them wheeled their cases into the hall where the guys were waiting. Bunny, North, and Sandy were all accounted for but OF COURSE Jack was nowhere to be seen.

"The nutty little show pony went off to find a window. If he gets frostbite, will I be the only one laughing?" Bunny said, arms crossed and leaning against one of the many wooden supports which jut from the walls.

Mim facepalmed and dashed down the hall. Jack was now stupidly human. North Pole temperatures could easily kill them all. She found him reaching for a small window which was cracked open a scant inch.

"Jackson Overland… don't you dare!" she yelled, causing him to lose his balance on his precarious perch and fall backward onto her. They two collapsed onto the floor.

"Mim?" he asked, looking under him.

"Wha-mmmph?" she replied muffled by his head. She lifted her chin and rested it on the floor, and blew her hair out of her mouth.

"That was really COLD!" Jack sounded both extremely happy and upset.

"Good job blizzard. You just discovered cold." she sighed exasperatedly.

"Love you snowflake." Jack pulled her up and hugged her. Mim laughed deep in her chest. "Sure you do."

* * *

 **A/N: Yay! A girl's episode. Clothing galore, and soon we leave the Pole and the true adventure begins!**

 **-Mimic**


	5. Home Sweet Sleep

After grabbing Jack's hand and bringing him back to the group, North was prepared to enact the next phase of this "plan" that was supposed to get them through a whole year has human teenagers. The next step was making the big move to their home for the next 12 months. North had revealed nothing about it whatsoever and to say that they were apprehensive would be a massive understatement. They were really taking it on faith at this point.

"Have you even seen the place?" Bunny asked, arms crossed and still grumpy looking.

"Of course, I paid for it!" North returned arms up in the air with excitement.

"Wait, you have money?" Mim sound genuinely surprised. No one seemed all that surprised at her question. Money wasn't exactly something for which they had much use.

"Eh, is magic money card." North brushed it off as he marched through the Pole with the other Guardians at his heels. Mim jogged up to his side.

"Do you mean like a credit or debit card? Where does the money come from, I mean?" she reposed the question.

"No." North denied, "Money is actually magic. Is valid in present, then vanishes from all records later."

Mim seemed perturbed by this. She was honestly quite confused. How did these entities remain secret? The answer was at first glance obvious, the money vanished later. But how did nobody notice that? The modern world had made her quite skeptical. But she supposed there was no use wondering at it.

The Guardians' world was her world for now and forever and there was no use arguing with it.

But now she had to leave this existence that she had fallen in love with and perhaps even become addicted to.

No more palaces. No more magic. No more flying and seeing the world with no restrictions.

At least for year.

"Ach! Here we are." North stopped the bunch at his huge shelf of snow globes. There was a clever mechanism put in place so that a new globe was always rolled down to the hands on request, with the pull a small lever. North rubbed at a smudge on the top of the one he held in his slightly smaller hands.

North held it out to Mimic, "Shall you do the honors. It is your hometown."

"Was. Was my hometown." she said gruffly, but took the snow globe anyway. Shaking it lightly she watched as the particles of powder stirred up and swirled in the clear liquid air. Holding it up in one hand, everyone watched with baited breath.

"Wordstone, Massachusetts."

The snow in the globe spun and changed colors, giving off small sparkles until a very familiar town common came into view within its depths. Mim threw the globe onto the floor, listening to the satisfying shatter.

A portal whirled into existence, swirls of color and air blowing her hair away from her face. The Guardians were already filing through the twisting curtain of light. She realized how they took this world for granted. Centuries had worn away the shine that Mim still saw. The magic and the light that accompanied being a life away from everything that everyone knew. Gosh, she didn't want to release this.

The portal was dimming and Mim knew it. She walked backwards into it trying to drink in last sights and sounds of the Pole. She hadn't even been back to Dragon Scale since hearing the news. She blinked and it was gone, instead a street surrounded by pine forests replaced it. The snap of North Pole winds were now the last heats of summer, mixed with the scented forebear of autumn.

Rotating in her place she could see North waving her over from the front porch of a simple two story house, painted a deep and dark, warming blue.

"Still with us snowflake?" Jack asked from the railing of the front steps.

"Of course." Mim called back, running up the concrete walk to join them. The windows had shutters in a dazzling white and the porch matched, as did the front door. It was a covered porch as the roof jut out creating a slope from the second story windows which went out around five feet before it ended leaving an 8 foot drop to the ground.

"Unassuming isn't it." Tooth commented looking around.

"Kinda the point ain't it though?" Bunny peered in the windows. It was late afternoon and he could see his reflection more than he could see the darkened interior.

North possessed the sole key to the house and he opened the door with great pomp and flourish, which seemed really out of place in such a mediocre setting.

"For future reference, nothing in a teen's world is that grand." Mim said, patting him on the shoulder, being the first to enter the house. "Now let's get inside before anyone sees us!"

Only then did they realize that they had packed clothes but not changed the one's they were wearing. Upon this reminder, they all moved into the house at an uncannily quick pace. North closed and locked the door, even going so far as to flick the deadbolt shut. Old habits die hard.

Jack found the lightswitch on the wall to their left and flipped it on. The ceiling light above their heads flickered to life. The soft white light reflected off of the white walls. All of the walls were, in fact white. The wall to their left had a set of silver hooks and small shelf that North and Bunny took care not to bump into. On their right was a half wall, which allowed them to overlook the small living room.

North had bought the place furnished, but not lavishly. The living room had a couch, a glass coffee table and a small television. Just beyond the entryway, Tooth turned left to see the kitchen. Wooden cupboards, tile floor and the usual sink, fridge, oven and stove.

Mim ran her fingers over the simple gray stone countertops. North had already had the food stocked by yetis apparently, as she looked through the fridge and cabinets. Mostly non perishables and canned foods.

 _Good, I always disliked grocery shopping._ Mim smirked to herself.

The Guardians occupied themselves with exploring the rest of their new home. The first floor had five rooms and a closet. The closet sat in the thick wall between the entryway and the kitchen. The stairs to the second story climbed from the middle of the first floor between the kitchen living room. Next to the kitchen was a small dining room, with chairs and a small chandelier dangling over it. Jack brushed his hand on it as he trotted from room to room. The bathroom was nestled in the cavity under the stairs. This old colonial style house didn't have a basement. Next to the living room and dining room was a room with almost nothing in it but an old desk and chair.

"Why'd you buy this, North?" Bunny asked, tapping the top of it, looking at it like it might collapse in on itself from age.

"I thought it was, perhaps um, uh…"he started and stroked his now absent beard in thought.

"Cool?" Jack inserted.

"Ach, da, cool!" North clapped his hands in agreement. Mim marvelled again at the transformations. North's enthusiasm had always made him seem...eccentric certainly. But now it made him seem quite childish, in a nice sort of way. Bunny's human face made all the same expressions as his, um, Bunny face and he still rested all his weight on his toes, giving him a still animalistic aire, odd since he still wore the skirt. Tooth floated around, but the walking had not suited her yet, and she'd stubbed her toe on chairs more than a few times now. Sandy kept jumping to touch the cross beams between the rooms, enjoying his newfound height.

Mim and Jack shared an understanding look, watching the not so Big Four move around like themselves in strangers' bodies.

"Shall we go upstairs and get settled?" Mim redirected the group gently, looking at the sunset through the trees behind the house. Her head wanted to pass out like you wouldn't believe. She'd not missed how a true teenage body always craved sleep.

Retrieving their suitcases from the entryway where they had been unceremoniously forgotten, the troupe marched upstairs.

At the top of the stairs, a hallway extended both left and right. Sandy, leading the group, chose to go left and he dragged his suitcase into a bedroom with two beds, one at each end of the room. The floors were the same dark wood that covered the rest of the house, sans kitchen tiles. The beds had pale blue gray sheets and there was a closet embedded into the same wall as the door. The room stretched the depth of the top floor. With windows on three walls.

Sandy looked about and nodded, promptly plunking his suitcase down next to the far bed.

"Well I guess that decision has been made." Jack said, rubbing his eyes, displaying the same tired symptoms that were now appearing on the faces of all the Guardians.

"I'll room with the Sandman. Sweet dreams right?" Jack put his suitcase at the foot of the nearer bed. Sandy rolled his eyes at the comment, causing everyone to laugh and for Jack to smile.

Continuing down the hall, they passed the second bathroom, and next to the bathroom was another bedroom, with a set of bunk bed pressed against the left wall. The room had a wardrobe instead of a closet which sat against the wall opposite the bed. Tooth and Mim glanced at each other and then moved their suitcases next to the wardrobe. Mim placed her hands on her hips and rotated, looking at the blank walls, white as the rest. The two windows both faced out to the backyard and the forest expanse beyond it.

"I call top bunk!" Tooth called out and scampered up the ladder with ease.

"I assumed as much." Mim chuckled, looking at the bird oh so comfortable on her perch.

"Still got the rest of us to room." Bunny reminded the two girls who were giggling to each other. The calmed quickly and with Jack and Sandy right at their heels, the final room was at the end of the right side of the hallway. It was a mirror image of Jack and Sandy's room. The beds at opposite ends a closet in the wall next to the door. Bunny and North moved their stuff into this room with exhausted resignation.

"Can we trust you two to room together?" Jack commented smiling.

"Oi! Shut up Frostbite, I'm hitting the hay. Tomorrow's Monday." Bunny threw himself down on the bed, same gray sheets as all the beds.

"Hey at least we don't have school!" Tooth reminded, shaking her finger at the Australian.

"Not yet maybe, we have much to accomplish tomorrow, supplies, plans, and-" North rattled off, but Mim slapped a hand over his mouth, muffling him.

"All thoughts for tomorrow, Bunny's right, we need sleep, way more than we ever have."

And as they dispersed and shut doors, Mim crawled under the light sheets on her bed. She preferred heavy blankets, not for warmth she rarely felt cold, but without their weight, she felt uncomfortably exposed and vulnerable. She curled up tight and shut her eyes. Vaguely she remembered Tooth shifting above her and settling in for the night.

* * *

 **A/N: Review?**

 **-Mimic**


	6. New Name New Game

**Chapter 6**

Mim awoke sweating and curled against the chill of the wall. Her recently acquired Guardian reactions kicked in and she rolled off the bed, landing on the floor in a tied up mess, sheets entangled her legs, leaving her flopping like a small beached whale. Not exactly the wake up she had expected. Tooth was still snoozing above and as Mim pulled herself to her feet, she reset the sheet to that it lay flat on the bed once more. Standing up, she stepped up onto the first rung of the ladder.

"Ey, Tooth, wake up…" Mim tugged on Tooth's hand which was cradling her small face. Tooth blinked her eyes a few times and startled at seeing Mim's face so close to her own. She sat up and threw the blue gray sheet off herself. Still not entirely awake, Tooth managed to haul her petite body over the wooden bedrail and land lightly on the floor.

"What time is it?" Tooth asked stretching out her shoulders, scratching incessantly at the place where her wings should be. Mim realized that there were no clocks in their room.

"Not sure. We'll have to wake Bunny. He'll be able to tell by the sun." Mim said, considering her following steps. "But I suggest we use the bathroom before we wake the guys. There's only two, things could get messy."

Mim had Tooth go first and then went to Bunny and North's room. Bunny was awake, lying flat on his back. North slept soundly and Mim shook him awake quickly. Bunny confirmed that it was around 8:15 in the morning. Mim had rarely slept so late in high school and her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Don't worry sheila, still got the rest of the day to work things out." Bunny smacked her gently on the shoulder as he stood up. North was already waiting outside the bathroom door. Tooth stepped out with a fresher face and white teeth. North gestured for Mim to go next.

Mim smiled and then shut the door. She splashed water on her face, as cold as the faucet would go. The gray eyes were disconcerting, especially as her original eyes had been mocha brown with flecks of green. Hands on the edge of the counter, she sighed and cast her eyes away from the mirror, tired of looking at the half-familiar stranger. While she brushed her teeth, she ran a hand through her hair and then after that a brush. The locks fell over half her face, shielding her left. Mim liked it.

She continued to notice that she still had her uniform on, the brash colors for the first time appearing silly and out of place, like a girl messily cosplaying a character that no one had heard of.

Leaving the bathroom, North was next in line and then Bunny, and Jack who was repeatedly shaking Sandy awake. He was nearly asleep leaning against the wall! Some things never change huh.

"Gosh we need to change clothes…" she said and everyone promptly looked down at themselves. Jack was the first to laugh at himself. Then North and Sandy Tooth and Bunny. Mim didn't laugh but smiled.

"Get dressed after this and meet me down in the kitchen. Trust me, you're going to be hungry."

Mim swiftly slid down the bannister of the single staircase. Landing with bent knees at the bottom, she turned right into the kitchen. The sounds of cupboards and cabinets opening and closing echoed rapidly across the blank walls. The clacking of a knife on the cutting board echoed just as loudly and each one almost made her wince. This was wrong, the silence and the orderliness. The Guardians moved like a well-oiled machine. It was awkward.

"Boo!" Jack surprised her from behind and Mim hadn't noticed at all. Her elbow lashed back and she felt it make contact with Jack's ribs, with his "oof" following close behind. She turned, not realizing that her knife hand was still extended. Bunny caught her wrist before the knife could fly and it clattered into the sink.

"Tense, are we?" Bunny asked.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I-" Mim ran her hands over her hair, neck tilted back in exasperation. She shook her head and then grabbed the plate of sliced fruit that she had prepared, with both hands this time, and moved it to the dining room table.

"Is fine, Mimic, this is uncomfortable for all of us." North reassured, settling himself at the head of the wooden table.

"Yeah, well I have to actively try to be unrecognizable. No one here knows you guys." Mim sat down as well. Tooth was at the opposite head of the table, Bunny and Sandy to her left and right. Jack was across from Mim who was next to North.

"What do you mean? There are plenty of believers in Wordstone?" Tooth looked worried if not hurt.

"I didn't mean it like that." Mim amended, "I meant like teenagers who have stopped believing and stuff."

It dawned on Tooth and she nodded, hands folded properly in front of her.

"Now, down to business!" North bit into an apple slice and once again stroked his invisible beard.

"Well we got clothes, house, food, water-" Tooth ticked the items off at spitfire speed.

"What about school?" Jack raised the question.

"The enrollment papers were 'placed' sometime a few weeks ago, they expect us." North confirmed. They would be transfer students, all adopted under a single legal parent who had _somehow_ gotten the enrollment through without appearing personally.

"Well ain't that convenient…" Mim muttered, and then continued, "Folders, notebooks, pens, supplies?"

"Phil is compiling all these things as we speak." North waved his hands, "all to be delivered sometime this week."

"Okaaaaay." Jack said, drawing out the word, "Well, that's sorted. What now?"

The group traded glances and looks, no one really sure. They could only do so much really. Then Sandy piped up, signing rapidly with his hands, the absence of dreamsand making nearly everyone jump in confusion. Tooth who knew every language translated what was identified as ASL.

"Secret Identities?" she asked.

"Da, this is important!" North pointed his finger, literally making his point.

"What are we? Superheroes?" Jack seemed amused by the chosen term.

"Well mate, it's not that far off." Bunny chuckles and rapped his knuckles on the table. "And something tells me that the names Bunny, North, Tooth and Sandy are going to turn more than a few heads."

"Bunny's right. We will need different names. Me too. Nym to Mim is just TOO convenient." Mim confirmed.

"Can I stay Jack?" ask the boy whose knees were folded cris-cros applesauce under him, even though he was sitting in a classic dining room chair.

"I don't see why not. It's a fairly common name." Tooth said, to which North and Sandy nodded.

"Common?" Jack puffed up his chest. "There is nothing common about me!" he smiled and flicked his hair. Mim was caught staring, head on hand. Jack reached across the table and booped her nose.

Sandy waved his arms and signed "Back to business" which Tooth translated. North knew the basics of sign language and Mim was picking it up. Bunny had to work it out and Jack made a mental note to get a book on it.

"Sandy is right, we must get back to work. Now, new names!" North rubbed his hands together, the clandestine creation of false names giving the Russian great excitement.

A silence fell upon the table, as everyone thought out their names. Jack twiddled his thumbs before standing up and pacing around the table. North's sudden break of silence made him jump sky high and hit his hand on the chandelier. Mim stood and promptly steadied it as Jack shook his hand which had painfully collided with the metal ornaments.

North had decided on the name Nick. Like St. Nick, so it would make sense and he wouldn't have issues responding to it as it was his true first name. Mim gave him a soft round of applause for his creativity. Bunny was next with his declaration of Edmund, or Ed for short. Jack leapt up again and pointed a dramatic finger at Bunny.

"So that's what the E stand for!" the boy seemed so glad to have made the connection.

"Not even close." Bunny grinned and fired the shot right back. Jack frowned and sat down for the third time.

Tooth and Sandy took a while and Sandy had to write his out as he didn't know how to sign his new name, which was decidedly Stefan. Tooth settled on Thia as in TooTHIAna. The name suited her, short and sweet, Mim pointed out, which made Tooth look like she could float, of she still could.

"What about you snowflake?" Jack looked intently at Mim, who crossed her arms over her chest in deliberation.

"I don't know." she said finally which caused everyone at the table to groan.

"There must be something." North pressed. Mim thought some more and more.

"Maybe Kim? No too similar, um Natalie, or Janelle nah too different. Agh c'mon Mim think!-"

The Guardians watched this serious display of indecision. They wanted to laugh because Mim was usually so quick on the uptake, and even quicker with a comeback. How could picking a name be so difficult?

"-how bout Nora?" she finally finished, opening her squinting eyes and looked to her friends for support.

…

"I like Nora." Jack said. "I mean sure, she's nothing compared to my Mimic but I might consider taking a liking to her."

That sent the group into gales of laughter, with Jack expounding upon Nora's imaginary traits and personality. It lightened the atmosphere for sure. Only then did Bunny realize that in 2 hours of sitting, they hadn't managed to get much done. It was even time for lunch!

Nick, Stefan, Edmund, Jack, Thia, and Nora all trotted back to the kitchen, with Mim promising to keep a better grip on her knife this time.

* * *

 **A/N: Well hello again hasn't it been awhile. Check me out on Youtube my appreciated readers, as I am planning to release a set of trailers for my Volumes, as well as character vids and eventually a soundtrack for both characters and plot! Try and keep up huh?**

 **Review?**

 **Mimic**


	7. Who am I?

The rest of the day was consumed in eating mass amounts, as none of them had eaten in round abouts 20 hours not including breakfast and chit chatting about names and identities. Mim had to admit it was fun to create a fake persona. And it was really soothing that she had a group of her closest friends to back her up. That was a conversation she made sure they didn't avoid.

"Sooooooooooo…" she began awkwardly.

"Soooooooooooooooooo, what?" Jack said back. He was perched on the arm of the couch, Mim was lying on the left, but backwards, knees hanging over the top. Sandy and North sat properly on the couch with Tooth sitting on the opposite arm. Bunny sat on the floor.

"This may just be me being crazy-"

"Ach Mimic, we know you to be insane, it lowers not your credibility." North interrupted.

"Gee thanks Nick," she scoffed in his direction and continued, "but I've lost more than a few friends to high school. I just wanna be sure that we don't, ya know, get too…spread...out?"

"So what yer sayin' is that you're scared we'll abandon you in there?" Bunny asked, eyebrows lifting in surprise.

"No, I mean maybe." Mim crossed her arms tighter.

"By moon Mim I've never known you to be so rattled by something, except when Jack drops ice down your neck!" Tooth said, looking over.

"Wouldn't be the first time is all." Mim responded really quietly.

Sandy signed a long speech that was way too fast and complicated for Mim to catch most of. Tooth quickly fell into the new habit of translating. Vehemently agreeing to Sandy's proposition, she explained that they should stay together as much as possible and not get too attached or involved with other things. This was a mission not a vacation. Heads nodded and affirmative hums made their way around the room.

"Feel better now, Mimic?" Bunny smiled up at her.

"Much." she sighed and uncrossed her arms.

On the topic of identities, the stories had been rehearsed enough times that each Guardian could repeat any others' fake background.

Nick and Stefan were actual brothers, adopted from Russia. None of the Guardians were to be able to remember too much about their fake birth parents, but North came up with a great gag about how he and Stefan had been saved from a small village after a vicious bear attack! North pulled inspiration from when he had fought the Great Bear of Santoff Claussen and Sandy rolled with silent laughter as North reenacted the scene for everyone.

"-and then the beast fell upon me and everyone thought that it was the end of the most legendary swordsman alive-"

Tooth was adopted from India but had been too young to retain any accent. Her fake parents had given her up for her own safety, a truth in fact, so it would be easy to remember. Bunny would naturally remain Aussie, but his story was based around the fact that his family had died in a tragic car accident in the middle of the night as a toddler. He seethed thinking about the truth behind that one.

Jack was decidedly from Canada, instead of his native Burgess, because he wanted to be from another country too. He'd lost his fake family in a skating incident, the person who fell through the lake was purposefully left out.

Mim had some real thinking on her hands as she have to weave a convincing backstory that had nothing to do with Wordstone or any events that happened. She tossed an idea to the group and got a few interesting looks.

"You wanna be british?" Bunny piped up after the split second of silence.

"It's not like I'll sound all American." Mim switched smoothly into the accent that the Guardians had seen to her slip into millions of times, when Jack had made her do one of her many impressions and accents.

"I think she could pull it off!" Tooth countered Bunny. "What's the rest of your story?"

"My mother and father couldn't relate to me all that well so at the ripe old age of 5 I ran from home and was found by our loving adoptive father, who sorted out all the issues and adopted me into whatever you'd like to call this." she rambled off. The Guardians were impressed. It was plausible, and it didn't seem to adhere to anything that her former classmates would know.

The clock struck 10 and the group almost collectively yawned. This time around, everyone made sure to dress in night clothes before hopping into bed, the chorus of "goodnights" and "sleep wells" and Jack yelling that Sandy signed "sweet dreams." That was followed by a small chorus of laughter.

Mim turned over to keep her back to the wall and slept, less tense than before. At least things were getting somewhere.

* * *

 **A/N: Short chapter today. I guess I'm yawing too...**

 **-Mimic**


	8. Jitters Anyone?

**Chapter 8**

Morning brought clouds and wind, on the first day of school. Alarms collectively sounded a grating buzz that jolted Mim, or should I say Nora, from a pleasant dream of Christmas at the Pole, dinner specifically. Instead of her comfy black and whites, and majestic habitat, she was rousted into the cutting reality of going back to high school. She'd jumped out at the beginning of junior year, and they would be going in as seniors. With all the old faces…

She groaned and smacked her face into the pillow.

Tooth was already up and into the bathroom. So Mim slid her suitcase out from under the bed, extracting the day's attire. The suitcase was sliding back under the bed frame when Tooth returned from the hall, looking very much the part of Thia, high school senior.

"Ready for this?" Mim said, opening the wardrobe door. A mirror lined the inside. After a few well placed swipes, her "game face" was on. Just enough to be different. She thought this to herself, heart beating faster, like a small shot of adrenaline before the battle begins.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Tooth responded, arms crossed over her chest, fingers drumming anxiously.

In that moment, a blond haired tornado attacked Mim, her stumble being steadied by the fact that her assailant went tumbling over her hip as she leaned and tossed him on the floor.

"Ow." Jack rubbed his nose ruefully. "What was that for snowflake?"

"You know what happens when you surprise me!" Mim laughed at him but offered a hand and pulled him to his feet. He hugged her tight this time and she leaned back quizzically.

"One of us could have been changing?!" She reproached goofily messing up his already messy hair.

"Well then hurry up, the rest of the guys are all put together in the hall." Jack booped her nose.

"Says the boy still in his pajamas…" Tooth smacked Jack's snowflake-pattern clad leg. He blushed and dashed out to change with Tooth and Mim giggling viciously.

Mim and Tooth were only a minute more stepping into the hall. Mim's eyebrows were raised in pleasant surprise. Everyone looked great! Tooth she'd already seen. Black leggings, cropped to a little above the ankle. Long purple tunic, hair left down. The tunic had short sleeves and low sloping neckline. It made her shorter stature look almost long. Black flats made the look. North was wearing sneakers and jeans, and black long sleeve sport shirt lay under an unbuttoned flannel with short sleeves. He had dutifully put on his "Clark Kent" glasses, Mim thought. An adorable hipster...sort of. Bunny was in flip flops of course, cargo shorts and an army green tank top, under a semi-opaque white button down. Sandy had gone so preppy that Mim was sure he'd fit right in with the high style in Wordstone. Khaki shorts and a banana yellow polo, with track sneakers. Mim laughed but then was caught staring.

Jack was wearing jeans and his favorite navy blue Toms. A gray V-neck T-Shirt with a few buttons at the apex of the V made Mim keep double-taking at him. It was so simple, but she couldn't help it…

"We look cool!" Jack said slow clapping their success.

"You look hot." Mim said under her breath, but Jack stopped mid-clap and she realized that everyone had heard. Jack smiled like an idiot and everyone was laughing at her. Mim cheeks twinged pinker than their naturally rosy complexion.

But Jack had his own thoughts on the comment. He was pretty mesmerized himself, or maybe mim-smerized?

White shorts and a red tank top. The fieriness softened the black leather jacket she'd managed to throw in her suitcase, hair down, wisps blowing into her face with every breath. Combat boots. He didn't even notice that they were filing downstairs until Mim lightly pat his face in passing. The kitchen table was like a clean assembly line. Sandwiches went in bags, which were tossed into backpacks. And before the clock could even strike seven, North was locking the door.

"How dya think things are going back home?" Bunny brought up, "and I mean _home_ home."

"I'm sure everything is going fine." Tooth fluttered.

"Nothing has blown up so far, so I think we're good." Jack added.

"How would we know?" Mim asked.

"Oh yetis would surely tell us and fairies and other Beings of Belief, da?" North confirmed. Although it came out as a nervous thought.

"Guys it's been a week. I doubt even the Sins could mess up our stuff that badly in seven days." Mim gestured in front of her, a settling motion.

"Ya underestimate them." Bunny mused.

"Guys cut the mystical talk." Tooth warned.

"We are hardly mystical-" Mim opposed but Sandy clapped them on their shoulders, and subtly flicked his chin up the road. Other teens, walking to school. Mim hoped desperately that their words hadn't carried. She slipped into accent and quickly explained how they'd have to go to the office to have their schedules delivered. Since school didn't start 'til 7:35 and it was only 7:15 they'd have time to find everything. And homeroom would come first anyway.

The crowd multiplied until they were pressed on all sides by other students whose backpacks and attire displayed a rainbow of personalities. The Guardians, not at all used to being touched, recoiled almost and seemed perturbed by the contact, the crowd buffeting them all over the massive granite steps. Mim practically dragged them through the horde, weaving in between the faces, some in books, some in phones and others still seeking friends.

The mere fact that they were new drew eyes. Mim knew it, but the eyes all lasering in on them, it made her uncomfortable.

The motley group of not-Guardians-anymore maneuvered their way to the office. The bell at the front desk klinking loudly in the insulated silence. An Administrative Assistant, often called secretaries, shuffled up to meet them.

"How can I help you?" she looked over the group, trying to seem indifferent but failing. The group intrigued her. A hipster, sweetheart, preppy, alt girl, jock and what? A nature ranger?

"We are new students." Mim politely opened the conversation, pushing past the woman's curious expression. "And we need to get our schedules sorted?"

"Oh yes, goodness of course. Mr. Mullern's office is there on the right, second door, he'll handle that for you." she pointed down the office hall.

"Thank you!" Tooth said brightly as she walked by. The woman smiled and mumbled a good day or something of the like. Goodness, she thought, what a group. Certainly not the norm at Paul Revere High. Mim guided them to the office and they moved in. None of them sitting despite the abundance of chairs. A man with a balding head and wire rimmed glasses looked up from his computer and encouraged them to take a seat. The teens cautiously lowered themselves into seats, backs ramrod straight. Mim cleared her throat and visibly slouched. They got the message and they relaxed more into their seats, not that the chairs were all that comfortable to begin with.

"So you are the transfer students I was alerted of." he said assertively in an overly friendly voice. "Welcome to Paul Revere High School!"

None of the Guardians said anything in response so he transitioned quickly into business. He asked if any of them spoke English as a second language. Tooth, North and Sandy raised their hands even though Bunny was lying by not raising his. But Pooka language wasn't necessarily going to fly here. Even though they had influenced the word "egg" in just about every tongue. North spoke English as a third language following Atlantean and Tooth spoke EVERY language.

The cousnelor asked if they were all comfortably fluent in English and they all nodded.

"Not a talkative bunch are you guys?" he joked and they all chuckled. Jack spoke up.

"Not particularly."

"Well this one isn't yes or no so prepare yourselves." he prefaced, "Do you want to remain in all classes together or scatter yourselves out."

"Together!" they all blurted out together then silenced then started to explain then stopped. They chuckled again, this time awkwardly.

"Together it is." Mr. Mullern typed and small novel into the computer and then the printer hummed to life, spitting out six copies of a grid organized schedule. He gave them directions to their home room 231 and wished them a good first day.

North began to follow the directions given when Mim made a sudden left turn up a side stair.

"Wait! Mi-Nora? Which way are you going?" Thia called out.

"The fast one. The freshman always fill up that staircase and get lost. Best not be late on our first day right?" she smiled.

* * *

 **A/N: Here's a longer one for you guys. Review anyone? Please?**

 **-MIMIC**


	9. Day 1

**Chapter 9**

Homeroom was a science lab, and students sat scattered around lab benches and smooth, sterile black tabletops. Jack, Nick, Ed, Stefan, Thia and Nora huddled together around one single bench. The eyes in the room all followed their every movement.

 _Don't glare don't glare don't do anything just stare straight ahead, don't smile but don't frown either…_

Mim commanded her composure all the while trying not to look stiff.

Their lab bench was near the back. Good, they all thought. No one to look at them too closely. It wasn't until the teacher started role call that the group came down from whatever tension seemed to surround them.

"Addley, Grace!" the teacher called out, Mrs. Hollard.

"Here!" a girl with shoulder length auburn hair waltzed into the door, fashionably late of course. She was flanked by two girls of vastly different looks. The girl on the left, who Mim, I mean Nora, recognized as Laurel Salisbury had deep brown hair, that went nearly to her waist. Her brown eyes were magnified by her glasses, which were mostly for show. She didn't seem to actually need them, taking them off whenever she decided to make out with whichever boy toy she was on a the time. Opposite her was Kylar Faraday. Blonde and busty, this girl was itching to be in Gracie's shoes. But second place does taste sweet after sitting in it since elementary school.

"Miss Addley, Salisbury and Faraday, you are late. Not a good start." Mrs. Hollard tried her hardest to look stern. But Gracie was one step ahead.

"Oh you know how the student parking lot gets with all the freshmen, I was helping someone get to Bio out in the far reaches of the science wing." she let the tiniest drop of humility creep into her voice, scented with her pumpkin spice coffee.

"How kind of you. They do get quite turned around don't they?" Mrs. Hollard was actually buying Gracie's tried and true sugar, pumpkin spice and everything nice act. Mim wanted get pen ink on that nice MK "school bag." A glorified tote.

As the three lovely ladies made their way to a seat, Jack caught Gracie's eyes lingering. He swallowed. In 300 years it was hardly original and he knew Mim was not the jealous type, and gosh was Gracie not his type. But still, this was no way to start what he knew would be a long con.

Mim caught the look too.

The fear bubbled up. It was unfounded, something about being back here, being with the old faces, falling into the old rut. It was getting to her. She couldn't lose everything here, she really didn't want to. She'd gotten out, got a nice deal, her dream come true…

"I see we have some new students." Mrs. Hollard looked her dead in the eyes. Tooth flinched and so did Bunny, the others looking like deer in the headlights. No one was going to move. So Nora stood up and put on the best face she could, the prettiest most convincing lie she'd ever had to tell.

"Well come on up and introduce yourselves." Mrs. Hollard had a hand on her hip, leaning on her desk, eyes expectant.

The group filed up and stood leaning against the front lab demonstration bench. Mim cleared her throat but North saved her and hit the ground running.

"My name is Nick, and this is my brother Stefan. We were adopted from Russia." the faces around the room stared curiously back. Jack began to tap his fingers. Stefan signed hello and explained that he was mute. The teacher nodded, guidance had sent out an email.

"I'm Thia, and I'm from India." Tooth's voice shook only with the tiniest of quivers. Imperceptible to all but her closest friends. Bunny was next.

"I'm Edmund, my mates call me Ed, you can guess where I'm from."

…

"I'm Jack, and I'm from Canada. Nice to meet you guys." and then he flashed that trademark grin of his and Mim could almost feel the temperature in the room drop a few degrees. A bit backwards but look at who you're dealing with. It took her a moment to realize she was the only one left.

"Oh…" she focussed intently on the people. Casting her eyes being sure not to spend more that 2 seconds on any face, "I'm Nora, from the UK."

A silence filled the room for a minute, maybe more. Mim wasn't sure.

"Any questions for our newcomers?" gestured to the awkward lineup.

Hands shot into the air at an alarming rate. The Guardians almost cowered under the pressure of the eyes. Mrs. Hollard just opened it up to discussion. The first question was whether they all knew each other. Nick recited the story of how they had all been adopted under the same...legal guardian. Then How long they had all known each other. Nick and Ed and Stefan had been taken first then Thia, and then Jack and Nora together, but Nick and Stefan were the only biological siblings.

"When did you guys move here?" Gracie's high soprano cut through the din of whispers. The room silenced at her mere will, or so it seemed.

"Last week." Jack answered.

"So you're like really really new." she confirmed, leaning forward over the desk a bit.

"I guess you could say that." Jack responded. She smiled and sat back down, continuing to gaze at them.

"That's enough now, we have some paperwork to go through." Mrs. Hollard banished them back to their seat and sent hefty stacks of health information cards and biological information papers. The Guardians funneled all of them to Nick who slid them into his black folder in his black backpack.

Hollard then delved into the customary speech regarding the school rules. No drinking, no smoking, no drugs, no PDA. The students had clocked out five minutes in. The only new rule was that teachers now had the authority to search a student's cell phone without a warrant. Mim was glad they didn't have phones. She hoped they'd never need them. A frail hope.

"Did you see the Canadian?" Kylar whispered to Laurel and Gracie who leaned in and listened, all while snapchatting any of their thousands of friends.

"Of course saw him, do I look blind to you?" Gracie retorted.

"Hardly but tunnel vision was hard to avoid when looking at that face." Laurel commented.

"Mmmmm you're right." Gracie hummed.

"Think he's dating either of the girls-" Kylar asked.

"-Who live in his house with him?! Get real!" Gracie hissed, laughing.

"Who knows, but then I take it he's fair game?" Laurel slipped the thought in, fixing her hair in her selfie camera.

"Any of them are, but be smart about it." Gracie snipped.

The end of first period rang out with an electric tone played over the PA system. The class collectively stood and in mass exodus, flooded into the halls which was already filled with students. Mim glanced at the schedule and saw that their first class was History. All the way at the other end of the building. She hopped into the current of bodies that swept past lockers and rooms. The others were quick to follow until they branched off into a room on the first floor with no window and a lot of presidents pasted on the walls. They settled in the back corner. Mim sensed that this would become a habit.

They were not the first ones to have arrived. Two guys were already in the back rows of desks as well. Mim ended up sitting next to them. Jack sat to her right, Tooth in front of her, and the other boys extending to the rightermost desks.

The teacher, a younger man approached Sandy and asked how he intended to handle the various methods of class. Sandy produced a whiteboard that the guidance counselor had provided. The teacher smiled and also opened his welcome to the other new students. Then he turned to the more familiar males.

"Dean you know you're allowed to chew gum in my class, just chuck it before you go to the next one alright?"

"Sure thing Mr. Campbell." Dean responded in a way that wa almost snarky, but not quite.

By now the seats were nearly all filled and the bell to begin class rang into the classroom. Mr. Campbell leaned against an antique looking podium and called out names. He thankfully did not ask from introduction from the newbies. Mr. Campbell knew that new names was enough to single out any attention.

"Dean Garrett."

"Right where you left me, sir." Dean opened his arms in an arrogant gesture. The class laughed.

"And I can assume that Mr. James Lonerro is right there as well?" Mr. Campbell smiled good naturedly at their attitude.

"Right here!" Jimmy raised his hand.

"Well then we can get down to the syllabus." the sheet made its way around the room, listing off time periods and topics of study.

"Want a piece of gum, uh, m'lady?" Dean held one out to Nora who was looked over in a sense of shock. Gum is gold in school. You don't just throw it around...unless you're Dean I guess.

"Ummm…"

"I hope you're still paying attention back there." Mr. Campbell saved Mim's response as Dean snapped his seat back to its upright position. Mim let out an inaudible sigh of relief. She knew Dean, she knew of him. Not in the best sense either. Were there going to be any decent faces this year. Anyone?

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry it's been what months? I'll try to keep grinding these out for you guys. Review?**

 **-MIMIC**


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